Detroit Red Wings Best Contracts (2005-2020)

The following is a condensed preview of the Detroit Red Wings chapter of my new book, Hunting Bargains in a Salary Cap World. If you purchase the book, you will receive a much more in-depth analysis of all these contracts, including year-by-year statistics, a customized “basket of comparables”, and memorable quotes from players, GMs, and coaches. Below is just a tiny sample of what’s in the book, with a few sentences clipped from the summaries. 

Entry level contracts not included.

Detroit Red Wings

 

 

Ken Holland was General Manager of the Detroit Red Wings from 1997 to 2019, and continued the Red Wings impressive playoff streak 10 years beyond the introduction of the "dynasty killing" salary cap in 2005. Holland is regarded very highly as a General Manager in the hockey world, and pulled off some miraculous deals before things got gloomy. Most of what you’ll see here focuses on the first 5 years after the cap was introduced when the Wings won yet another Stanley Cup. The best tool in Holland’s tool box was allowing prospects to spend longer than necessary in the minors, which allows the team to drive down the price of the 2nd and 3rd contracts.

 

 

Henrik would return from Sweden in August 2005 as a completely different player, scoring 39 goals and 85 PTS amid the obstruction crackdown. The Red Wings received 292 GP, 318 PTS (89-point pace), 1167 shots, +98, 125 power play PTS, 2059 face off wins, and that’s just regular season. He also won a Stanley Cup and a playoff MVP. He would total 71 PTS in 69 playoff GP. This was like getting a $10M player for $4.6M.

 

 

Comparing this to the expected earnings of a 60-70 point D-man, Lidstrom appears to be overpaid (if someone nicknamed “The Perfect Human” can even be considered overpaid). Yet having said that, this contract ranks as one of the most productive handed out in the last 15 years (69 PTS per 82 GP ranks 3rd highest among defensemen in the salary cap era). It was a 2-year contract that won 2 Norris trophies and a Stanley Cup. Drop the microphone…

 

 

The Red Wings won the Cup in year one with Datsyuk scoring 120 PTS (regular season + playoffs). Pavel continued to produce at an elite level into his mid-30s (averaging 85 PTS per 82 GP over these 7 years). If the scoring output wasn’t enough, he also won 3 Selke trophies on this deal as the league’s best 2-way forward (that’s the real definition of the award, am I right?). Datsyuk is a lock to join the Hockey Hall of Fame when his career finally ends.

 

 

On a single season contract at age 40, Lidstrom won yet another Norris Trophy. Arguably the greatest return ever on a contract given to a 40-year-old defenseman. Sure, my contracts spreadsheet doesn’t extend earlier than 2005, but I still think it’s safe to assume that’s the greatest single season for a D-man of that age. The Perfect Human did Holland a huge favor by taking 1-year term at this age. Had he demanded more and tested free agency, somebody would have given it to him.

 

 

Franzen emerged as a legit sniper, with 28 playoff goals on this contract, adding 71 more in the regular season. That’s 99 Goals for a combined sum of $3.7M (adjusted for cap inflation), paying 28 cents on the dollar for the stat line. Unreal. All those bargain goals helped Detroit advance to 2 Stanley Cup finals, hoisting the trophy in 2008. Franzen certainly made a bigger contribution to those teams than Mike Babcock did, as a monkey could have coached them to a championship.

 

 

Datsyuk returned from the 2005 lockout and exploded up to 87 PTS. Over these 2 seasons Pavel averaged a magical 93 PTS per 82 GP, but didn’t win any Stanley Cups or Selke trophies until his next contract. He had the opportunity to walk to unrestricted free agency at the end of this deal, but chose instead to sign an extension in April and stay with the team long term (which paid off with a championship in 2008).

 

 

Nick was merely nominated for the Norris trophy under this contract, but still took the team to another Stanley Cup final in year one. The Perfect Human scored 108 PTS in 160 GP (55-point pace) in the regular season (averaging over 25 minutes of ice time), adding 26 more PTS in 33 playoff GP.

 

 

Year one of this contract saw Kronwall contribute 15 playoff PTS en route to a Stanley Cup championship, and followed that up with a 51-point season in year two at age 27. While he did take a risk with a pact expiring at age 31, any money he might have left on the table was added to his next negotiation, as Holland gave him $33M.

 

 

 Holland was able to lock in their #1 center through what should be the prime of his career at a team friendly price. Larkin was nearly a point per game player in year one, but year two hit a snag with Detroit being historically bad, and Anthony Mantha missing a big chunk of the season.

 

 

This document had the potential to hit the Red Wings with a significant “cap recapture penalty”, which was why he qualified for my 2017 Worst NHL contracts list, but Marian Hossa was a game changer.  Hank was able to continue scoring at a point per game pace until age 32, aging more gracefully than most players, finishing with 70 PTS per 82 GP. Luckily Unfortunately, a career ending back injury (that cost him zero games in 2017/18 with Detroit far out of the playoff race) allowed Ken Holland to stash the remaining 3 years on LTIR, avoiding cap recapture. This had the potential to be a disaster, but now that it’s over and we’ve seen the whole picture with zero punishment, it’s safe to conclude that this was a worthwhile expenditure.

 

 

In year one Osgood mostly just served as back-up to Dominik Hasek and played zero playoff games, which is perfectly acceptable at this price range. Ozzie was a slightly above average regular season goalie and by year two of this contract, Hasek became a below average NHL backstopper. Osgood won the starting job over the Dominator, went 14-4 in the playoffs with a 1.55 GAA and .930 SV% winning the Stanley Cup. Osgood could have played zero regular season games over these 2 years and he would still be on this list just for that playoff.

 

 

The Swedish winger would start the following season back in the AHL due to salary cap and roster reasons, but once he earned a full-time spot, Babcock put him on the Zetterberg line and Gustav went on a heater, scoring 48 PTS in 57 GP. Nyquist would average 60 PTS per 82 GP over this pact, with the Wings only paying about 20 cents on the dollar for that production.

 

 

It’s rare for any team to invest this much money in an over-30 free agent and parlay that into an immediate Stanley Cup victory, but that’s exactly what happened here (if you ever make a list of the top Cup winning UFA signings in the salary cap era, remember to include this one). Rafalski would age incredibly well, scoring 204 PTS in 292 GP (57-point pace), adding an additional 40 PTS in 63 playoff games, with back-to-back trips to the finals.

 

Brian would walk away from $6M to retire after year four, which was devastating for Detroit because he was still remarkably effective at his advanced age. Perhaps he received a few anti-aging tips from Lidstrom.

 

By year two, Jimmy couldn’t be held back any longer, and burst onto the scene when Osgood faltered, playing 63 games with a 2.26 GAA and .924 SV% earning a Calder trophy nomination, a rare occurrence on a non-entry level contract. His SV% did plunge down to .908 in year three, but he was still a bargain at under $1M AAV.

 

 

It makes perfectly logical sense that a Swede would take a discount to stay in Detroit. What did the Red Wings get for that $3.6M ($5.9M adjusted for cap inflation)? 207 GP, 114 PTS regular season, a Stanley Cup and 63 playoff games with 34 playoff PTS. You can put that one in the win column.